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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127380
eROAD RACE
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World Championshi~_erb_ik_e_Se_ries_:_R_ou_n_d 2
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Polen (23 ) leads World Champion Raymond Roche (1) and Stephane Mertens during the duel in the second race.
Spaniard J uan Lopez-Mella gave the locals somethin g to cheer about as he tallied third and fourt h place finishes.
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Mark again had the early lead, but
was quickly disposed of by Roche,
Polen and Mertens who were in a class
of their own. Falappa had been in the
thick of it early on, even passing Polen,
but he ran off into the sandtrap and
that was the end of the day for him.
Give him a few more weeks, though,
and he'll likely be up front again.
Earl y on, the way the race was goi n g
to go was clear. While Roche shook,
wobbled and used all the track in his
attem pts to stay ahead, Polen just
cam ped in beh ind him, watched and
wa ited.
R och e h a s perhaps never tr ied
harder, but his forks were no help:
" T he suspension is too bad," he said
later. " It was not possib le to win , I
th in k."
Indeed it wasn 't. Polen passed him
for the lead on lap 10, Roche got back
in front on lap 17, but the American
was back past him again on the 21st
go-around. Two laps in succession,
Roche outbraked him going into the
first turn - rear wheel bouncing clear
off th e track - but Polen went straight
back underneath as he ran wide.
He opened the taps the last couple
of laps and pulled away to win by 1.5
seconds: " I went as fast as I could the
last three laps," Polen explained later.
" " I figured watching them that I had
enough to last the whole last lap out
in front, It was a good, close race"
though, I let Raymond Roche go on
by so I could cool my tires inthe midsection of the race. "
But it wasn't Roche in second in the
en d. Mertens slid past him on the last
lap as the number one Duke oversho t
the first turn under brakes. Mertens
had been shadowing them the whole
time but never led, twice hi tting false
neutrals in turns which cautioned him
from trying an ything desperate.
Behind th em, Lopez-Mella took a ,
fine fourth ahead of Pirovano, who
this time had managed to fend of
Arnatriain.
Polen's 15-po in t lead in the World
Championship may no t seem like
much with so much left in the season,
bu t judging by Jarama it's a gap as
wide as the Grand Can yon . But with
th e heavyweights no t battling again
until June 9 at Brainerd, there will be
time for his op po nent s to come up with
some answers. They need them.
Cl'I
Results
IlACE I: I. Doug Polen (Due); 2. Rob Phillis
{Ka w}; 3. J uan Lopez-Mella (H a n); 4. Daniel
Amatriain (Ho n); 5. Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam ); 6.
Baldassarre Monti (Han); 7. Terry Rymer (Yam) ;
8. Udo Mark (Yam); 9. Carl Fogarty (Ha n ); 10. Brun o
Bon h ui l (Ya m); 11. An to n io Moreno (H on ); 12. Peter
Rubano (Yam); 15. Walu:r Amm an (Yam); 14. Aldeo
Pr esciutti (Kawl; 15. J